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All eyes were on Troy junior Christina Shabet, right, during the award ceremony. She scored a 37.7 to claim the D-1 title.

All eyes were on Troy junior Christina Shabet, right, during the award ceremony. She scored a 37.7 to claim the D-1 title.

TROY — Devastation led to jubilation.

The agony of what was surely defeat gave way to a success she didn’t see coming.

And so went the 2013 Division 1 gymnastic finals for Troy High junior Christina Shabet.

“She hadn’t fallen all year during her beam routine,” coach Cynthia Tan said with a laugh. “It’s been her best event, and then she fell at the state finals.”

“It was terrifying. Not my best moment. I broke down,” Shabet said last week of her fall. “Once I composed myself, I just decided to go out and see what I could do with what I had left.”

Turns out she still had plenty to offer and will forever have the distinction of the 2013 all-around state champ to prove it.

“I didn’t even know it was still possible. I was shocked,” Shabet said of winning the D-1 title March 9 at Plymouth High. “I didn’t think I was going to, or even could, after falling. I was pretty surprised.”

Quite literally, Shabet picked herself up off the mat and got back to work.

In the end, she scored a 37.7, just enough to sneak past Coldwater’s Kylie Dudek, who finished with 37.5.

“There were so many strong girls there,” Shabet added. “I was shocked when I found out I won.”

She didn’t win any single event, put placed in the top seven in three of the four.

She scored a 9.4 on the vault, a 9.35 on the uneven parallel bars, a 9.2 on the beam, and then capped her day with a 9.75 in the floor exercise.

“It was like so much hard work paid off,” Shabet said of the title. She placed seventh a year ago at the finals. “It was an awesome experience.”

“She doesn’t like to lose at anything she does,” Tan said with a laugh. “She’s been All-State for two years, but we knew this could be the year she won it all.”

About the author

Sports Writer Mike Moore covers a variety of sports in Oakland County and the Detroit Catholic League. Mike joined C & G Newspapers in 2006 shortly after graduating from Albion College where he played football. He attended Dearborn Divine Child where he met his wife Jennifer. They have four sons together and reside in Dearborn.